Whoever believes in
the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has
made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has
borne concerning his Son.
THE STUDY:
The first
thing I thought when I read this verse was, “John, tell us how you really feel.”
John is getting to the core of his message. Embracing God’s word gives an inner
witness in his heart (lit. in himself).
Other manuscripts read simply “has the
testimony in him,” but “in himself”
has the best manuscript support. The NIV translates this passage to say “in his heart.” The word “heart” is a
paraphrasing addition to the text. The confirmation of faith is
all-encompassing, involving outer behavior and inward conviction, mind and
emotions, head and heart. The cognitive truth of God’s witness grasps us at the
center of our beings—what the Bible often calls the heart. The witness of God
is not to be intellectualized, but interiorized. That is, the witness has to
become the possession of faith. This simply means that “the event of faith is
the witness.” Our very ability to believe constitutes God’s witness to our
hearts (see Rom 5:5).
John sharply
insists that the one resisting the
testimony God has given about his Son makes God out to be a liar. The
secessionists prefer their own version of the truth. The word order is
emphatic: liar he has made him.[1]
WHAT WE CAN WALK
AWAY WITH ….
- We walk away this morning with the understanding that Gods dealings are internal not external. What happens on the outside is a result from what has taken place on the inside. We believe because of the faith that dwells inside of us.
CONCLUSION:
I remember a
quote I loved concerning belief: Never
put a question mark where God has put a period. —John R. Rice. Let today
be a day that your belief rules you and not your disbelief.
Blessings my friends
Pastor Rod
[1]
Williamson, R. (2010). 1, 2, & 3
John: A Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition. New Beacon Bible Commentary
(163). Kansas City, MO: Beacon Hill Press.
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